Papers by Johann Ramminger
Nordic Journal of Renaissance Studies 18, 2022
The paper examines some textual metrics commonly applied to English texts in corpus linguistics, ... more The paper examines some textual metrics commonly applied to English texts in corpus linguistics, specifically their usefulness for Latin, in particular for Neo-Latin texts. They are tested on a corpus of five Neo-Latin historio¬graphical texts on the background of Livy’s Ab urbe condita (since it was considered a stylistic ideal by many later historiographers). The metrics con¬cern frequency (Gini-Index and Lorenz-curve) and dispersion (inter-arrival time and dpnorm Gries). The analyses throw light on the inner structure of Latin texts in general (esp. the relative frequency of grammatical words vs. lexical words) and connect words and ideas in the political and social realities of the worlds depicted by chronologically disparate texts (e.g., dispersion of rex in Livy and Valla’s Gesta Ferdinandi).
Analecta Romana Instituti Danici, 2021
The paper will use delta measures calculated by stylometric analysis of a corpus of Classical and... more The paper will use delta measures calculated by stylometric analysis of a corpus of Classical and Early Modern Latin (EML) texts. Within the larger question of whether delta measures can be successfully applied to EML texts, I will address several interconnected questions: (1) Do authors have a consistent style across genres? (2) Do translations from the Greek have a style different from “original” works by the translator? (3) Do translations of the same text by different translators resemble each other (an author versus a translator fingerprint)? And (4) are EML texts close in style to Classical Latin models? It will be shown that stylometry does not necessarily measure indicators of authorship in EML texts, but overall furnishes us with a plethora of stylistic information: Generally works by the same author are grouped together. Translations nearly always stand apart from original works by the same author, translations of the same work by different authors are grouped together. Works that strongly imitate the style of a Classical author (esp. Cicero), may be grouped accordingly. It appears that several humanists in our corpus exhibit such a depth of control over their Latin that they seem to be able to dissociate themselves from their “own” style at will. Thus delta in EML texts is not a reliable indicator of authorship, but rather seems to reflect the stylistic aspirations (and their success) of EML authors.
Studi Umanistici Piceni 13, 219-228., 1993
The organist and composer Paul Hofheimer (1459-1537) occupied himself in his last years with metr... more The organist and composer Paul Hofheimer (1459-1537) occupied himself in his last years with metrical settings of classical Latin poems, mostly by Horace. These settings were published posthumously in 1539 under the title "Harmoniae poeticae Pauli Hofheimeri". A preface praises Hofheimer and his art. The piece are, as far as they are datable, chronologically diverse (some of them probably written as early as 1510). The authors are Southern German humanists connected with the Imperial court or Vienna university. There are contributions (both poetry and prose) by Willibald Pirckheimer, Conrad Celtis, Joachim Vadianus, formerly professor of poetics in Vienna, Petrus Bonomus, formerly Imperial secretary, than bishop of Trieste, Richardus Sbrulius, and Philipp Gundelius, Vadian's successor in Vienna. The publication of the collection was supervised by Johannes Stomius, a Salzburg humanist and teacher of music. The pieces praise Hofheimer in different ways, but share a mythological-historical universe composed from pieces from Greek and Roman mythology, history, and culture which allows them to describe the achievement of the poet-musician Hofheimer in the (humanist) framework of Greco-Roman antiquity.
The Roman Inscriptions of Augsburg Published by Conrad Peutinger Studi Umanistici Piceni 12, 197-210, 1992
In the year 1505 the Augsburg humanist and city secretary Conrad Peutinger (1465-1547; Stadtschre... more In the year 1505 the Augsburg humanist and city secretary Conrad Peutinger (1465-1547; Stadtschreiber 1497-1534) published a small volume of Roman inscriptions of Augsburg entitled Romanae vetustatis fragmenta in Augusta Vindelicorum et eius dioecesi. After some peritexts, the major part of the publication consists of some twenty Roman inscriptions, mainly from Augsburg itself (two in Peutinger's own possession), with a few additional ones from nearby villages. They were typeset in capital letters retaining the line divisions on the stone. Each inscription was headed by an introductory note indicating the site where it was found. The last item in the book is the Latin speech delivered by Conrad Peutinger's four-year-old daughter Juliana on the occasion of a visit by Maximilian to Augsburg in 1504. Peutinger's book is one of the earliest printed editions of inscriptions, printed by Erhard Ratdolt in Augsburg.
Acta Conventus Neo-Latini Torontonensis; Proceedings of the 7th International Congress of Neo-Latin Studies. Toronto 8 August to 13 August 1988. Binghamton New York., 1991
The "Complurium eruditorum uatum carmina ad magnificum uirum D. Blasium Hoelcelium sacri Caesaris... more The "Complurium eruditorum uatum carmina ad magnificum uirum D. Blasium Hoelcelium sacri Caesaris Maximiliani consiliarium Moecenatem eorum precipuum" (Poems by a group of learned poets to the eminent imperial counselor Blasius Hölzel, their principal patron) were edited in late summer or early fall of the year 1518 in Augsburg during the Imperial Diet by Petrus Bonomus, then Bishop of Trieste, formerly secretary of the emperor. The anthology comprises letters and poems by politicians and intellectuals connected with the court of Maximilian I; besides Bonomus and Hölzel they include, e.g., Sbruglio, Muzio, Peutinger, Celtis, Stabius, Bartholini and Cuspinian. The paper discusses the construction of a group identity using the matrix of Hölzel as 'Maecenas' (patron) and the others as his 'friends'.
Parerga Blog, 2020
“Language possesses no pure synonyms. […] If, for extralinguistic reasons such as cultural borrow... more “Language possesses no pure synonyms. […] If, for extralinguistic reasons such as cultural borrowing or foreign conquest, two exact synonyms exist for a time in the spoken chain, either one of them will become less and less selected and eventually discarded, or a difference of meaning, connotation, nuance or register will arise to distinguish them” (Samuels, Linguistic Evolution, Cambridge 1972, 65). The phenomenon of native-language synonym displacement has been documented amply in modern European languages. Little attention has been paid to the fact that the situation in Latin itself is much less clear cut. The Thesaurus Linguae Latinae provides ample data on the usage of synonyms. The blog discusses two cases, "prodigium / monstrum /ostentum / portentum" and "metuo – metus / timeo – timor", which show different aspects of synonym distribution in Classical Latin.
EML-DPhil, 2019
High quality scans of early printed books have been abundant for some time now; that has, however... more High quality scans of early printed books have been abundant for some time now; that has, however, so far not led to an increased availability of texts. This is about to change with ocr4all, an OCR software that reliably converts scans of early printed books to machine-readable (and human-researchable) text, developed at the U. of Würzburg.
Thesaurus Linguae Latinae, 1900
The Thesaurus Linguae Latinae is the premier dictionary of the Latin of Antiquity, from the begin... more The Thesaurus Linguae Latinae is the premier dictionary of the Latin of Antiquity, from the beginnings to 600 A.D. It is important for all research which engages with classical Latin literature, its survival, its reception and its transformation. It is an indispensable tool for anybody doing in-depth research on the semantics of Latin and of languages deriving from or influenced by it. The open access digital version covers a large part of what has been published. There is a moving wall concerning the latest issues published on paper (N and R), which will be made available at a later date. - http://www.thesaurus.badw.de/tll-digital/tll-open-access.html
Leonardo Grifo (Griffo, Griffi) was a humanist, private secretary of Sixtus IV and (since 1482) b... more Leonardo Grifo (Griffo, Griffi) was a humanist, private secretary of Sixtus IV and (since 1482) bishop of Benevent with a long carreer at the papal curia (no direct contacts between him and Leto are known so far). He died on 24 November 1485 and was buried the following night in S. Maria del Popolo "in the chapel behind the main altar" (Burckhard, Diarii). The exequies – where Leto delivered the oration – were celebrated on 15 December 1485. The written version of Leto's oration was presumably produced shortly afterwards (the dedication letter is not dated). The addressee of the letter, Falcone Sinibaldi (d. 1492), was papal treasurer and the recipient of many dedications, among others from Domizio Calderini and Battista Spagnoli. The publicatio contains a critical edition with translation.
Traducere in the sense of ‘to translate’ is not classical Latin. It is well-established in Neo-La... more Traducere in the sense of ‘to translate’ is not classical Latin. It is well-established in Neo-Latin, in the paratexts of translations and in humanist metadiscourse about translation. It first appears in the dedications of Leonardo Bruni’s early translations and spreads quickly to the writings of other humanists such as Guarino and Francesco Barbaro. From early on it also is used in the rubrics of humanist manuscripts. By the middle of the fifteenth century it is well established in the semantic field of translation. From the 1420s onwards it appears in Italian, it enters the Romance languages of Spain in the middle of the century, French at the turn of the century. Due to the wealth of the material available we are able to establish the mechanism and speed of lexical change in this case with precision; we can show the importance of individuals and the humanist Community of Practice as well as the role of different text types as conduits of language innovation.
The re-establishment of the private letter as a genre in its own right was one of the most signif... more The re-establishment of the private letter as a genre in its own right was one of the most significant achievements of humanist literary culture. As a consequence, the Italian humanists adopted the classical ‘tu’ instead of the customary (i.e. medieval) ‘vos’ as the form of address in contexts outside the political sphere, irrespective of social rank. By the time Southern German intellectuals had begun to embrace Italian (i. e. humanist) literary customs in the middle of the Quattrocento, this feature was firmly established in Italy and was vigorously promoted by the leading Italian humanist at the Emperor’s court, Enea Silvio Piccolomini. German humanists did not find it easy to adopt the new custom which went against their own and their recipients’ social sensibilities. Up until the 1480s, we find them inserting metadiscursive comments into their letters explaining the new ‘tu’ to their correspondents as the ‘way the Italians write’ and as the ‘custom of the Ancients.’
Call for papers for one or more sessions at the 2018 IANLS congress in Albacete. We would like to... more Call for papers for one or more sessions at the 2018 IANLS congress in Albacete. We would like to organize one or more panels about methodological questions in Neo-Latin language studies. The premise of this call for papers is that linguistic research concerning other languages or addressing more general questions may offer insights that can be transferred to NL research. Ideally, contributors would test this hypothesis in some respect or other.
The communicative space of the Latin speakers discussed in this volume extended over the whole of... more The communicative space of the Latin speakers discussed in this volume extended over the whole of the civilized world as they understood it. This communicative space is what has recently been called the “Neo- Latin World”, those parts of Europe (and the Americas) where there existed a stratum of society capable of producing and/or reading and appreciating works in Latin. The communities that the writers in this volume expressed allegiance to were quite different from each other, and the importance of Latin and the reasons for using it varied no less. Firstly, Latin was the prestige language of Italian humanists and later intellectuals; their linguistic identity and the adherent value system were important aspects of how they positioned themselves in society. Secondly, from the sixteenth century onwards, the fact that Latin (more than other European languages) allowed communication across political and linguistic borders became more and more important. The combination of these two functions was an ongoing process of renegotiation, and outcomes were as varied as the situations they proceeded from: no one other language could match the versatility of Latin for the diverse needs of early modern European society.
This paper can be downloaded from: Vitae Pomponianae: Lives of Classical Writers in Fifteenth-Cen... more This paper can be downloaded from: Vitae Pomponianae: Lives of Classical Writers in Fifteenth-Century Roman Humanism, ed. Marianne Pade. Renaessanceforum 9 (2015) (www.renaessanceforum.dk).
In his "Life of Martial" Perotti applies a structure of biography formulated by Servius and often used in medieval accessus with the following elements: the poet's life, title of the work, its characteristics, intention, structure, and explanation. Within this framework Perotti discusses two problems of Martial's epigrams: the crass obscenity to which the reader was exposed, and the unrestrained flattery of Domitian, that might show Martial's character in an unfavourable light. According to Perotti, however, it is the intention of the author to influence the depraved tyrant for the better by showing him an ideal version of himself. The disturbing language - an inappropriate object of study for a bishop such as Perotti himself - is part of the characteristics of the poems which express a wide range of contents in a fitting - at times lofty, at times obscene - idiom. Thus the reader, even if a prince, was to be subtly educated and lead onto a path of virtue.
The present book is a collection of Karsten
Friis-Jensen’s published studies of how Horace
was un... more The present book is a collection of Karsten
Friis-Jensen’s published studies of how Horace
was understood during the Middle Ages. They demonstrate
his gradually deepening insight into the themes
he developed, such as the position of the Materia
commentary as the standard commentary on the Ars
Poetica, the connection between the supposed
chronology of Horace’s works and their suitability
for readers of different ages, and the importance
of the Odes in the medieval curriculum.
Unpublished paper from the roundtable: Worlds of Words: Greek and Latin Lexicography in the Renai... more Unpublished paper from the roundtable: Worlds of Words: Greek and Latin Lexicography in the Renaissance in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries. RSA Berlin 2015. Download from www.neulatein.de
In: Brill's Encyclopaedia of the Neo-Latin World edited by Philip Ford, Jan Bloemendal and Charle... more In: Brill's Encyclopaedia of the Neo-Latin World edited by Philip Ford, Jan Bloemendal and Charles Fantazzi. Renaissance Society of America Texts & Studies Series 3 (Leiden 2014), 21-36.
An offprint can be downloaded from www.neulatein.de
Repertorium Pomponianum
"In: Repertorium Pomponianum, ed. Roma nel Rinascimento (Roma 2008-). URL: www.repertoriumpomponi... more "In: Repertorium Pomponianum, ed. Roma nel Rinascimento (Roma 2008-). URL: www.repertoriumpomponianum.it/textus/perotti_vita_martialis.htm. Includes latin text and english translation.
Perotti composed the Life of Martial for the Cornu copiae, c. 1478; for some material he had mined Domizio Calderini's Life, published with his commentary on Martial in Rome in 1474. While Calderini has amassed an impressive amount of material, Perotti's life stands out for its coherence and analytical clarity. Perotti had had an interest in Martial from his youth, and later collaborated with Pomponio, who shared his enthusiasm for the Flavian poets. In Perotti's earlier commentary on Martial (in a Martial-ms. copied by Perotti in his youth, now BAV Vat. lat. 6848) there is no Life; it does, however, contain the important letter of Pliny the Younger concerning the death of Martial."
The Dictionary of Neolatin can be consulted at www.neulatein.de
The Dictionary of Neolatin from ... more The Dictionary of Neolatin can be consulted at www.neulatein.de
The Dictionary of Neolatin from Petrarch to 1700 (NLW) charts (a part of) the semantic development of Latin between approx. 1300 and 1700. Neolatin is understood as the phase of the development of Latin which began under the influence of the linguistic ideals of humanism, aiming at the recovery of the languages and culture of classical antiquity. It started in Italy at the age of Petrarch, and spread slowly to other countries, arriving in the Scandinavian countries together with the Reformation in the sixteenth century. The NLW focuses on new or rare words and on terms which are noteworthy for other reasons, e.g. because they designate concepts of importance for European culture (such as the terms academia, humanitas, renascentia, and modernus), because they influence or are influenced by the vernacular (e.g. penosus, nouella), etc. The NLW comprises research on all the domains of Early Modern Latin, the academic as well as the pragmatic and other domains. URL: www.neulatein.de
The NLW has contributions by myself as well as other researchers. Researchers on Neolatin who want to contribute are kindly invited to write to me at j.ramminger(at)gmail.com.
Uploads
Papers by Johann Ramminger
In his "Life of Martial" Perotti applies a structure of biography formulated by Servius and often used in medieval accessus with the following elements: the poet's life, title of the work, its characteristics, intention, structure, and explanation. Within this framework Perotti discusses two problems of Martial's epigrams: the crass obscenity to which the reader was exposed, and the unrestrained flattery of Domitian, that might show Martial's character in an unfavourable light. According to Perotti, however, it is the intention of the author to influence the depraved tyrant for the better by showing him an ideal version of himself. The disturbing language - an inappropriate object of study for a bishop such as Perotti himself - is part of the characteristics of the poems which express a wide range of contents in a fitting - at times lofty, at times obscene - idiom. Thus the reader, even if a prince, was to be subtly educated and lead onto a path of virtue.
Friis-Jensen’s published studies of how Horace
was understood during the Middle Ages. They demonstrate
his gradually deepening insight into the themes
he developed, such as the position of the Materia
commentary as the standard commentary on the Ars
Poetica, the connection between the supposed
chronology of Horace’s works and their suitability
for readers of different ages, and the importance
of the Odes in the medieval curriculum.
An offprint can be downloaded from www.neulatein.de
Perotti composed the Life of Martial for the Cornu copiae, c. 1478; for some material he had mined Domizio Calderini's Life, published with his commentary on Martial in Rome in 1474. While Calderini has amassed an impressive amount of material, Perotti's life stands out for its coherence and analytical clarity. Perotti had had an interest in Martial from his youth, and later collaborated with Pomponio, who shared his enthusiasm for the Flavian poets. In Perotti's earlier commentary on Martial (in a Martial-ms. copied by Perotti in his youth, now BAV Vat. lat. 6848) there is no Life; it does, however, contain the important letter of Pliny the Younger concerning the death of Martial."
The Dictionary of Neolatin from Petrarch to 1700 (NLW) charts (a part of) the semantic development of Latin between approx. 1300 and 1700. Neolatin is understood as the phase of the development of Latin which began under the influence of the linguistic ideals of humanism, aiming at the recovery of the languages and culture of classical antiquity. It started in Italy at the age of Petrarch, and spread slowly to other countries, arriving in the Scandinavian countries together with the Reformation in the sixteenth century. The NLW focuses on new or rare words and on terms which are noteworthy for other reasons, e.g. because they designate concepts of importance for European culture (such as the terms academia, humanitas, renascentia, and modernus), because they influence or are influenced by the vernacular (e.g. penosus, nouella), etc. The NLW comprises research on all the domains of Early Modern Latin, the academic as well as the pragmatic and other domains. URL: www.neulatein.de
The NLW has contributions by myself as well as other researchers. Researchers on Neolatin who want to contribute are kindly invited to write to me at j.ramminger(at)gmail.com.
In his "Life of Martial" Perotti applies a structure of biography formulated by Servius and often used in medieval accessus with the following elements: the poet's life, title of the work, its characteristics, intention, structure, and explanation. Within this framework Perotti discusses two problems of Martial's epigrams: the crass obscenity to which the reader was exposed, and the unrestrained flattery of Domitian, that might show Martial's character in an unfavourable light. According to Perotti, however, it is the intention of the author to influence the depraved tyrant for the better by showing him an ideal version of himself. The disturbing language - an inappropriate object of study for a bishop such as Perotti himself - is part of the characteristics of the poems which express a wide range of contents in a fitting - at times lofty, at times obscene - idiom. Thus the reader, even if a prince, was to be subtly educated and lead onto a path of virtue.
Friis-Jensen’s published studies of how Horace
was understood during the Middle Ages. They demonstrate
his gradually deepening insight into the themes
he developed, such as the position of the Materia
commentary as the standard commentary on the Ars
Poetica, the connection between the supposed
chronology of Horace’s works and their suitability
for readers of different ages, and the importance
of the Odes in the medieval curriculum.
An offprint can be downloaded from www.neulatein.de
Perotti composed the Life of Martial for the Cornu copiae, c. 1478; for some material he had mined Domizio Calderini's Life, published with his commentary on Martial in Rome in 1474. While Calderini has amassed an impressive amount of material, Perotti's life stands out for its coherence and analytical clarity. Perotti had had an interest in Martial from his youth, and later collaborated with Pomponio, who shared his enthusiasm for the Flavian poets. In Perotti's earlier commentary on Martial (in a Martial-ms. copied by Perotti in his youth, now BAV Vat. lat. 6848) there is no Life; it does, however, contain the important letter of Pliny the Younger concerning the death of Martial."
The Dictionary of Neolatin from Petrarch to 1700 (NLW) charts (a part of) the semantic development of Latin between approx. 1300 and 1700. Neolatin is understood as the phase of the development of Latin which began under the influence of the linguistic ideals of humanism, aiming at the recovery of the languages and culture of classical antiquity. It started in Italy at the age of Petrarch, and spread slowly to other countries, arriving in the Scandinavian countries together with the Reformation in the sixteenth century. The NLW focuses on new or rare words and on terms which are noteworthy for other reasons, e.g. because they designate concepts of importance for European culture (such as the terms academia, humanitas, renascentia, and modernus), because they influence or are influenced by the vernacular (e.g. penosus, nouella), etc. The NLW comprises research on all the domains of Early Modern Latin, the academic as well as the pragmatic and other domains. URL: www.neulatein.de
The NLW has contributions by myself as well as other researchers. Researchers on Neolatin who want to contribute are kindly invited to write to me at j.ramminger(at)gmail.com.
Digital Latin Lexicography is a field that in recent years has undergone a rapid development. The talk discusses how the information structure of the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae could contribute to resolve some major problems of digital research strategies, such as the use of collocations to determine meaning, or lemmatization and disambiguation.